


Visions and Strategies

by Galdr



Series: Tales of the Mystery Dungeons AU [7]
Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness & Explorers of Sky, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 17:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19407688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galdr/pseuds/Galdr
Summary: As Flynn and Yuri are still on their way to Capim Town, back in Idyll Village, Team Vritra continue their assistance with Lycanroc and devise a plan together.





	Visions and Strategies

**Author's Note:**

> No Flynn and Yuri in this one, folks, but they'll be back in the next one. Anyhoo, enjoy.

“I believe that’s all I could manage to see with the Dimensional Scream, Lycanroc.”

The Rock-type nodded gratefully to Sylveon, who sat down with Lucario beside her, with him making sure she was steady. After a rapid series of the Scream and its visions one after the other, it had taken a mental toll on her, which translated into physical exhaustion after a time. The Fairy-type had tried to massage her temple, which was throbbing from the last vision the Scream had given her. Lucario had a sheet with him as he had taken down notes on all the visions Sylveon had, having written them down as she described them to the best of her ability to them.

She had seen images of things she’d never seen before.

 _Creatures, unlike Pokémon, had roamed the place her first vision had taken her. Many creatures that looked like the Lycanroc before her, but far more vicious, stood in the way of a group of travelers. However, they were no match for them as they were defeated by objects these travelers had. Her mind had given her a name for these creatures… They were_ monsters _._

_The travelers were strange creatures as well!_

_More visions of these travelers awakened a deeply rooted imagery in her own mind, one that she hadn’t been able to access in years since she came to this world. These travelers… were_ humans _! Real, live humans! Just like she had been once upon a time. Walking upright on two legs, using weapons, her mind supplied easily. They also used techniques like Pokémon did, which was incredibly odd._

 _The next vision focused on a human male with long, dark hair and garbed in dark attire._ Clothes _, she remembered. He was using a sword which had a strange, eerie glow around it._

_Another vision was of another human male with short, fair hair and dressed in white and blue, however, he wore armor, much like an Aggron’s, but different. He had a sword as well, along with a shield, like an Aegislash._

_There was also another vision with a human male in red, was using some technique to hold a human female inside its sphere. She heard a low growl coming out of her vocals, but it hadn’t been her at all. The dark-haired human had attempted to rush ahead to hurt that man, but it was useless. He was surrounded by others in odd armor, walling off any chances._

_That’s when another vision flickered in; this time, it was of the same, two men up against a foe._

_With the other humans—an odd female human creature with long ears and dressed lighter than the rest, using a spear, a younger female with brown hair and using what appeared to be a whip, a younger male with brown hair using a large axe and a large, heavy bag, and lastly, a younger female with blond hair, dressed like a_ pirate _, her mind found the word, using strange weapons that she’d never seen before, too—were battling another human male garbed in yellow and gold armor, with short brown hair._

_It appeared to be a fierce battle, with seven against one._

No _, she thought,_ There were eight of them. _The humans were all there, but there were paws in front of her, from a first-person view. The eighth one… Low to the ground, growling as a dagger was in its mouth, she could almost feel it._

_But the eight weren’t strong enough to hold out against the single target, with the enemy human male using a massive technique that damaged all of them when they were too close._

_The human using the shield had used a technique and began using it on each of his comrades, which seemed to be a healing technique. The human with the eerie weapon charged with a shout to strike at the enemy human, but rather, he pivoted at the last second, jumping over him and right for the escaping man in the red wear, attempting to slash him down._

_She saw the man in the red turn and suddenly, the human female in the sphere cried out in agony as the sphere lit up! The energy that strangely left it went directly for the advancing human, who threw up the eerie sword in time to collide with the energy, creating a massive distortion of power. It flickered for a moment before it blasted both away, like a repellent._

_The human female was still screaming as another energy left the sphere and directed it at the fallen male—but not before the man clad in white armor rushed on scene and took the hit—and had fallen down himself. This angered the eighth comrade and she felt it rush headlong into the scene as well, before the same fate befell it. It tried to struggle to stay awake, but the blast had_ hurt _, and it couldn’t get up. Angered voices of shock and rage followed, and the last thing the eighth had seen was the dark-haired male attempted one more time with the eerie sword, only for him to receive the same result again._

_But, the sword had stricken the male in red, a grave wound…_

_The vision silenced with darkness, as usual with Dimensional Screams._

Sylveon had described her visions, which had utterly baffled Lucario. Lycanroc, on the other hand, seemed to have hardened his gaze at nothing in particular as she did so. In fact, she suspected he had been wholly involved, given the method he’d asked her to utilize her Dimensional Scream. After all, she hadn’t seen Lycanroc anywhere in those visions, and yet, she knew he’d been there the whole time. The ground had been awfully close to her compared to those humans she’d seen.

Lucario, however, had been slightly ecstatic to hear that humans _were_ real and not myths, given how detailed Sylveon had been when she described those from the visions. His excitement had died when the gruesome imagery of a battle had been given afterwards, though.

“I wondered what happened after that battle,” Lucario said, tapping his foot slowly against the ground, “I mean, it seemed you only saw parts of it, Sylveon.”

“Yeah, I think so, too. But perhaps, I only saw the important parts rather than… the whole thing.” She sighed a little, “Then again, I don’t—I _can’t_ control what the Dimensional Scream does. When it activates or what it shows me are out of my control. Only things that had happened with the object or Pokémon in question, the past, present or its future. It's random.” From that, she zeroed in on Lycanroc, “You were there, weren’t you?”

“…That is correct.”

“I never saw you, but you were there. I was watching all the visions from…” She trailed off but Lycanroc already knew where she was coming from. “Those… those humans, you know them.”

“Yes.”

“…What happened after that? The Scream never showed me…”

Lycanroc seemed to pause as he collected himself and his words. He looked at both Pokémon here, both of them that had likely a similar experience, from what he gathered. In the short amount of time that he’d been in their company—a day now—he felt he could trust them. It was unusual, given his past and mostly because he didn’t trust easily. The only ones he trusted were…

“I awakened to find the one of the male humans still collapsed and the other using his healing techniques on the other,” he began slowly, being as vague and descriptive as possible, “The sword that you described had appeared to have disappeared. My other companions were attempting to carry the collapsed one out, when the place we were in, an old shrine, began to collapse, or parts of it were. They were running as fast as they could, but in the end, they had dropped him. The male that could heal dove after him and I as well. That’s when a strange phenomenon occurred. An energy and monster unlike what we ever had seen before materialized out of nowhere. To my utter surprise, it had grabbed me to kill me. As I look back now, I am uncertain of its true intentions. Soon after, this awakened the unconscious male and the both of them attempted to fight it off, sustaining more injuries and in the process, saving me.

“The creature had injured them severely, and I could tell they were on their last legs, losing consciousness and possibly dying. I had no way to help them. I believed myself next and stood my ground to protect them. It attacked me as well, and though I fought as bravely as I could, I knew I was finished. I’m uncertain as what transpired afterwards, but it possibly used some technique and threw us into the energy behind it. The last thing I had seen, we were separated, and flung in different directions…”

Lycanroc sighed.

“I believe the three of us have landed in this world together.”

Both listeners were stunned by this odd revelation. To Sylveon, it felt similar—when the incident involving Darkrai’s sabotaging of hers and Grovyle’s mission from the future to protect the past. Lucario easily detected her thoughts and placed a paw on her nearest shoulder to comfort her.

“So, you’re looking for them. The two ‘Pokémon’ you’re referring to earlier. They could possibly _still_ be humans while here. That’s why you hesitated earlier,” the Aura Pokémon deduced, which was accurate due to Lycanroc’s silent nod.

“Yes. However, like your friend Sylveon, they could have possibly transformed into Pokémon, too. Like myself.”

“And you’d like our assistance in finding them.”

“Correct.”

“Lastly,” Sylveon spoke this time, “Due to the oddity surrounding them, we’re quite possibly the only ones that could relate to the situation. You don’t want others knowing you’re looking for actual humans. Something could happen to them.”

The Rock-type inclined his head in confirmation.

“If they are still humans, then it’s likely they’d attract attention to themselves no matter where they go here, but it’d make them easier to find,” Lucario began, “As we know, their species are mentioned as extinct, legends and myths in this world. All that’s left of them, or clues of what’s left of them, are old, fallen buildings that we Pokémon could never figure out how they constructed them—for now, at least—and items that help us Pokémon that we’ve never made with our own hands. But, if your friends have transformed into Pokémon, it makes it easier for them to blend into the massive population of Pokémon, but harder to find.” Lucario closed his eyes and drummed his paws against his chin.

“That could be the situation, yes,” Lycanroc agreed, sitting down on his haunches.

There was a pregnant pause between all three Pokémon for a long moment until Lucario was the one to break it.

“So, let’s say we’re actually looking for them as Pokémon, how are we going to find human-turned-Pokémon? They could be any species and we’d have a ton of Pokémon to look through before finding them.”

Sylveon and Lycanroc were silent at his hypothetical question. However, the Fairy-type lifted her head in slight realization.

“…What if…” She started quietly, getting both male Pokémon’s attention, “What if they’re like me?”

Lucario scratched the back of his head as he tilted it to stare at his closest friend. “What do you mean, Sylveon?” Her gaze met his and she frowned.

“What if they’re amnesiacs… like I am?” As she spoke this, Lucario’s eyes slightly widened, “What if they have no idea what they are and they’re merely wandering around, trying to adjust to their new bodies?”

“That’s—actually a good theory,” Lucario was next to chime in after her, “In fact, if all those fancy, rumored stories about the other continents having ‘mysterious humans’ coming into the Pokémon world and helping them out with their troubles, then maybe it isn’t so farfetched. Those rumored stories had the humans turning into Pokémon but forgetting what they knew in their human lives but knew they used to be human, like you, Sylveon.”

Lycanroc knew for certain that one of these tales had to be true for he had heard similar tales when he traveled through the Air Continent prior to coming here to the Grass Continent.

“It seems to be a strange trend, but it’s possibly because whatever sends the humans here needs to preserve their innocence or something,” Lucario added with a shrug before turning to Sylveon, “Except you, Sylveon. Your case is special, I think.”

Yeah, hers was indeed different, that she could agree on.

“…Then, if we assume this, we’ve slightly narrowed our search down,” Lycanroc finally spoke, “Now, the idea of searching for these supposed Pokémon without drawing attention to them or others that could possibly find them, too.”

Sylveon tapped a paw to her chin as she glanced to the ground, trying to think. Since they were a budding guild and many of their members had special talents that they utilized, it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea to enlist their help. But, it all depended on Lycanroc agreeing with it. Most of their team members didn’t really know Sylveon used to be human or had her Dimensional Scream. Only a select few did, like Manaphy and Cresselia. However, there was one they _could_ ask, but it would take a long time to travel there.

“…We could ask Palkia,” Sylveon suggested. Lucario and Lycanroc turned to her as both of them had been thinking about a plan, too.

“Palkia? The Pokémon who has dominion over space and dimension?” the Rock-type wondered curiously.

It took a few seconds for the thought to click in for Lucario. “Oh! Right, Palkia. He could detect spatial distortions, just like with us, Sylveon.” He then turned to the confused Lycanroc, “Palkia probably already knows you and your friends distorted through space and dimension to even get here, however it was that you got here. It might be minuscule like it was for Sylveon and I, but he could potentially check the world to locate them by whatever distortion they might have caused. If he can pinpoint where they are, it could make finding them easier.”

Genuinely, that seemed like a good idea, but…

“We’d be the only ones that could go, Lucario,” Sylveon reminded him. “And with our project still under way…”

Lucario’s excitement immediately fell apart. His shoulders sagged a little and his ears dropped, complete with his downcast expression. “Ah, man. I forgot. Not that I’m not happy with how far we’ve gotten, but this is like Lycanroc asking us as a request, Sylveon. You know we can’t turn him down. He’s trusted us this far.” Trust Sylveon to suggest a good idea and then crush it in the next second.

She nodded her head. “I know, but... We can’t just leave the others to do this work on their own. Team Apsis is only here until it’s completed, and we can’t just dump this on them. It’d be wholly unfair.”

The Aura Pokémon seemed to slump down further at his partner’s valid points. “You’re… right. Ugh.”

Lycanroc had immense hope, but it seemed like these two were stuck on what to do. He could possibly go himself, but the way to wherever Palkia resided must rest only in their hands. They likely knew of a way to get there and were possibly the only ones that could. It appears they’d have to think of another plan of action to take.

“…We could ask Darkrai.”

The Rock-type glanced immediately to Lucario as he spoke. Sylveon did likewise.

“Wh-what?”

“Darkrai. You know, he’s been there before and he knows his way there. And with what happened to him, we both know he’s a good Pokémon now.” Sylveon stared at him with a look that quite said, “Are you insane!?” for good measure. Lucario noticed it and crossed his arms, “Look, it’s just an idea I had. Cresselia can even go with them for added protection.”

“You know full well Palkia despises Darkrai and the reasons why.”

“Yeah, but Darkrai’s strong. The feral Pokémon that live there won’t be a match for him. And Cresselia will be there to make sure things don’t go astray. Come on, Sylveon, it’s our best chance to continue helping Lycanroc here.” The Aura Pokémon glanced to the Wolf Pokémon and appeared adamant on his suggestion. “We could explain things to them—they _are_ one of the few that know about you, after all.”

Cresselia knowing was vastly different since she knew beforehand, but Darkrai was a different story altogether. He only knew because of an accidental reveal, but the Fairy-type wasn’t going to bring that up. The two Pokémon stared at each other for a long moment until they broke apart.

“…Only if Lycanroc wants to,” she finally caved then turned to the Pokémon in question, “It’s up to you. You don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable letting more Pokémon know of your circumstance.”

It took the Wolf Pokémon a long moment to decide, mainly because of his trust issue mentioned earlier. These two were the only ones he could place that trust in, but on the other hand, if he could meet Palkia and find answers to the whereabouts of his missing friends, then he would take that opportunity given. Even if it made him wary about letting others know of his situation. He’d have to take that chance—the sooner he found them, the sooner they could find ways to return to their world. Somehow…

“…I accept,” Lycanroc answered and conceded, “But only them and those that need to know. If you have any Pokémon that run an intelligence, then it would be prudent of them to know the situation so they can run reconnaissance while we’re away.”

That appeared to be a good idea. Both Sylveon and Lucario glanced to each other before nodding their agreement.

“Alright. That’s fair,” Lucario said and continued, “We do know one Pokémon we trust that can help in that area. In the meantime, we’ll get you acquainted with Darkrai and Cresselia and send you on your way to where Palkia is… Spatial Rift.”

Sylveon was still uncomfortable about sending Darkrai off on a mission, _especially_ to Palkia’s home turf where the master of space and dimension could wipe out what was left of Darkrai from the past grievances, being justified in doing so even if he said he was finished with the Dark-type Mythical. She could only hope Cresselia’s presence could pacify Palkia’s likely rage and anger in order for the mission to go through successfully. Despite what she felt about Darkrai, he was still a member of her team and she wanted them all to return safe and sound.

This decision, she hoped would be right.


End file.
